A fun cold day in MOntgomery, AL.

Yep, still alive. Here is a short update.

Every time we have a conference call, or get more paperwork added to the daily grind, I wonder if maybe it is time for a change of carreers. But then, I start thinking about having to work under someone, and do the same things everyday, and figure I better not jinx myself.

This was today's project for me and my right hand man, Al. Al is my lead field trainer and I'd hate to go back to doing my job without him around.

That mess is pointing at 7 different satellites! We had a helluva time messing with things to get it just so. The dish on the far left is a new system, so we were basically making sure we knew our stuff before we have to go teach the rest of the gang how to set it up.

Friday we had another cool job setting up a new cigar bar in Columbus. It's always a lot of fun to get several of the best guys on one job and knock it out while BSing the whole time.

Anyway, I think I'll stick with this a while longer. Who needs a boss anyway?

Itunes fix.

Well, this one is blather at it's best, but I've caught up on all my forum reading, and it's not bed time yet. Feel free to ignore...

Ok, to start with I was playing Windows pinball and talking to Deb about something and the song "Swing Town" came up..couldn't remember who sang it so I had to bail from the pinball game to find out, else I'd loose my mind. Turns out it was Steve Miller of course, but that got me on a mid-80's music train of thought. About the same time that song came out, The Bangles did a cover of Simon and Garfunkels  "Hazy Shade of Winter." Their version kicked ass then, and thanks to Itunes I found out that it still stands pretty good today....

Then this brought up another thing..why is it women don't like women singers? I had the Bangles at top volume, and when done asked Deb, isn't that great.....got a "hohum" from her, then found out she didn't care for them. I've heard mom mention that she doesn't care for many women artists either. And our friend Liz, who sings in a bluegrass band once said something about Alison Krauss being ugly! What the hell gives here?

Anyway, if anyone wants to check out some good stuff, or do a little emule/napster/itunes searching, check out the following and tell me how can't you like this shit???????

Bangles: The previously mentioned S&G cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter", and "Following."

My favorite lezbo's, The Indigo Girls: "Nashville"

Cheryl Crow (w/Kid Rock): "The Picture"

Patty Loveless: "Here I Am"

So, now here I sit, going through the vast Compound Music Vault, dredging up tunes I haven't heard in a while. If I think of any that I don't have, I search emule first and if I come up empty there, I'll pitch in a buck to the Apple empire to buy it at Itunes. After all, it's better than loosing my mind, right?

Have a nice day.

School...as I see it.....

As anyone in this house can tell you, I'm enjoying the machine shop. When I was taking welding, it was not often that I was home past 9pm. Now I don't darken the door until around 10:30 on school nights. I've already finished my class projects for this quarter, so now I'm working on some of my own, plus helping out the other guy in the class who is behind. I was told Monday that I've been inducted into the Tech. School Honor Society, which is cool, though I don't really know what it really does for me. Just something else to put on my "I love me" wall if anything.

I've been sparing my faithful readers from pictures that I know only my dad can appreciate, but I thought I'd post some here to show where I spend every Monday and Wednesday night.

Now for the dad stuff...what I was doing here was making the lower pin bushings for the quick hitch. Tractor Supply wants $22 a pair for the shouldered bushings,  and these didn't cost me anything but time. I didn't need the shoulder on them because they will be captured on either side. I also made a set for the tiller as I've been using a cheapo set of category 1 to 2 bushings slid inside a 2-3 bushing. For whatever reason, the bottom slots on the quick hitch are cat. 3 size, and the top link slot is cat. 2. I ran out of time tonight so I didn't get my top link bushing done, but I did use that big bandsaw to cut out my "lift ears" that will be going on the carriage. They did tell me I can come in with the day shift and work if I have time...they should never have told me that!

Thanksgiving...more gooder.

Ok, this was a pretty damn good holiday. The girls woke us up early, which pissed Deb off but worked out good for me. Who wants to waste such a nice day in bed? I spent most of the day out in the yard and in the shop. I got the deck off the big(?) John Deere and put the weights back on it. Then used the boom pole to move a few things around for winter. Most of the afternoon was spent with both of my two grinders and a sledge hamer deconstructing a fork lift carriage that will be rebuilt as a tractor attachment. A good time was had by all (me). I do wish I had a photographer following me so dad could see the current projects.

The girls started showing back up at around 4:30 for a great feed at 5. I'm still stuffed. Back to the diet tomorrow though.

The pictures are just random from the past couple days, but they are worth looking at just for the freek show picture.

Newest family member.

Here is the latest member of the clan, Morgan. She hit the scales at 5 lb., 9 oz. but is healthy even at that light weight. I'll have some better pictures when Deb gets home with the camera later tonight. Speaking of which, this digital camera thing is getting out of hand. I'll put it this way, I've got pictures of this kid before she was all the way out! Good Lord. Anyway, she was born at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon, and Lany was up walking around last night! I guess there is something to be said for lightweight babies. So far the kid doesn't make much noise, though I was able to get a little half hearted yell out of her this afternoon. I swear she is already focusing on things, but she may be tricking me. They are both heading home tomorrow.

Banner ad...big friggin' deal.

No, I didn't leave because of the horrible banner ad, I'm just on my normal once-every-week-and-a-half update schedule. For the life of me, I don't see what the hell the big deal is about the banner ad. Thinking about it, I can't think of even one of my normally visited web sites that don't have a banner ad or two on them. Maybe I'm conditioned to not notice them any longer. And, when it comes down to it, only my family and friends read this stupid thing anyway, so I'm not to worried about them bailng on me due to the ads. Hey, it could be worse....yahoo used to make you see the ad before you could read the post! Now that WAS irritating, so much so that they have since quit that ignorance.

I'll have another completed project picture for dad tonight.

Have a nice day!

In praise of gifted tools.

 

That was an odd ball title I guess.

Today was a normal Saturday for me. Nothing earth shattering or exciting at all really. Just Lyndsay and I tearing up junk in the back yard. The project of the day was cutting the mounting hardware for a front loader off of an old tractor. I've been putting that off for a LONG time...it's not exactly as glamorous as fabricating some great new gadget, or painting something up. But, money is tight and I'll take my projects as I can find them. Anyway, for some reason in the midst of this one, I looked around and found there were as many tools around me that had been given to me, as ones that I'd bought myself.

I started grinding the welds out with a 4.5" angle grinder that Deb got for me. I'd have bought a Dewalt, so when she brought home a Black & Decker, I really didn't think it would last long. Well, so far that damn thing has taken all the abuse I have thrown at it.

The life saver today was a very old heavy 7" angle grinder that dad handed down to me. The little B&D was just not big enough for this job, and was not making progress at the required rate....the old monster got the job done quick.

I did the tight spots with a die-grinder given to my by my friend Jerry from Columbus. It is Deb's x-husbands x-wife's dad (no kidding). I also did a bit of clean-up grinding with a bench grinder he gave me as well.

Of course the impact wrench used was the bad-assed composite body Ingersoll Greg gave me. I've for another one that has a bit more power (from dad), but usually this light little gun gets the job done.

When I cleaned up for the day I headed straight for the Shop-Vac brother in law Kevin gave me on the last trip. I never realized how much I needed one of these until I got this one home. It is hands down the one thing that gets used every time I'm in the shed. I'd probably have put off buying one forever, but now I don't know how I lived without it.

Anyway, here's to the folks that hand me down tools. I wouldn't get half as much done without this stuff.

Last mowing of the season????

Well, maybe I've mowed the lawn for the last time this year. Of course, it was 80, and it did rain a little this morning. I guess I won't start counting my chickens yet. But I'm sure ready to be done mowing!

My Saturday.

I spent the day in Albany, GA at a garden tractor pull put on for their annual fair. I was a good turn out with lots of tractors. I just loaded every picture I had, so good luck.

I was as near perfect weather today as I've ever seen. Because I went alone, I was able to finally listen to the new Disturbed CD at a proper volume level with the windows down running 75mph for the hour and a half drive home. Quite a nice day.

Machinist class picture for dad.

Here is some of the stuff made in class so far. The bottom two are from last quarter, and were made with only a hacksaw and file. The top one is from the lathe class I'm in now. From top to bottom: "test bar" for testing holes in something, I don't know what, "drill drift" for removing jacobs chuck from milling machines, and "tool bit gauge" for checking the angles as you grind a tool bit.

Halloween pics....

I didn't get in on much trick or treating this evening...it was a school night after all. Deb and Celeste took the girls out and got a pretty good haul...oh, and I'm back to dieting tomorrow...what great candy timing.

A fine Sunday indeed.

What a nice day it was today. I had my helper out with me most of the day and worked on just about every project I've got....well, maybe not all of them. I got the nose back on the 670, worked a bit on the Walker ZTR, and cleaned up the old 140....Here is the proof....

Riffing off my sisters journal.

Yes, I meant to write riffing, not ripping....in other words rambling off of thoughts provoked by my sisters journal.

Rachel did a fine job explaining our involvement in the CB craze via mom. Hell, I think everyone had a radio back then. Here is an ironic twist....if you check out mom's journal the dog she writes about that hangs around all the time belongs to the same guy who wanted to shoot down her antenna as a kid because mom's radio was "bleeding over" and wrecking their TV reception. Payback by mutt???

I can remember us hitching a ride to grandma's with dad as he went to work in the morning.  We could raise her on the radio (yes, even grandma had a CB)long before we got to Oak Grove, and she lived well to the other side of town. You couldn't talk that far these days without a footwarmer (amp). I can also remember having a helluva time understanding what was said through that tiny speaker.

Fast forward 30 years and I had my short stint as a radio man. My friend "Rooster" was heavily into radio's and had been every since they started getting popular in the 70's. Somehow I ended up with all kinds of equipment and talked literally all over the world with it. I've since gotten rid of most of the stuff....when Rooster died a couple years ago somehow the fun of it went with him.

Anyway, that's all for me....this is the "Hotshot", and I'm out..........

Photo lessons #873...take a test shot first.

Well, I got another lesson on taking photo's this morning. It was Lyndsays first honors day at school, and she was getting a perfect attendance award. As you can tell, I didn't get off one good shot. On auto, the flash wanted to go off, which mysteriously darkened the pictures. Without it, the "shutter" stayed open so long things got very blurry. So the lesson learned is, take some sample shots before the magic moment! I posted the pictures anyway, to appease grandma.

The other pictures are from Sunday's pool tear down and clean up. That was a much bigger job than setting the thing up I believe, but it is now clean, dry, and stored in the shed....waiting for next summer. I'm not sure why the dog pictures needed to be taken, but they are included as well...enjoy! LOL

Yesterday in school, I finally got to make some chips fly. I'm working on my first lathe project, and so far it is looking good.

Wristband day at the Georgia National Fair.

You want pics....you got 'em. Today is our annual trip to Perry for the Georgia National Fair. We arrived at around Noon, and left at 8:30....my damn feet hurt.

Legal issues, bad kids, and things of that nature.

 

I'm not one to put a lot of what I consider "personal issues" in this journal. To make a long story short, for the past 8 months we've been dealing with some "kid issues" the likes of which I'd not wish on my worst enemy. Close friends and family know what I'm talking about, so I won't go in depth here for the masses. Suffice to say, it has not been pretty, and has affected normal day to day living around her in a bad way. I think both me and Deb just about got ulcers over it, and sometimes weren't the most graceful under pressure. I can't say that this episode has given me any more faith in our legal system.

As of today, at around 10:30, we are officially off the hook. In the matter of one weeks time, 8 months of heartache just disappeared from the records. We should have never been in this position in the first place, and believe me when I tell you that from this point on, Deb will not call a cop under any circumstances! I've only hired two lawyers in my life, one for a bankruptcy, and one for this mess. Both times I've been lucky enough to have one that actually worked for what I was paying him for. I can't bad mouth the lawyers in this at all actually. Between our great lawyer friends in Alabama (thanks Bill and Joy!) that probably kept Deb out of the nut house by explaining how the process works and what would probably happen, to our own lawyer who showed up early for court and went in the back to do the secret handshake, or whatever lawyers do to make things disappear, I can't bad mouth them in any way. We also had good judges in our progress through the court system, that could see through thinly veiled lies told be folks that are supposed to be working in the states interest. In the long run, it is cops, and DFACS employees that I'll never trust again. I won't go on a rant here over it, but I'll not piss on any of them if they catch fire. Somehow you expect these folks to at the very least be truthful in front of a judge, and to do the right thing.....I found out how bad a judgment call that could be.

It is over, and now things can get back to normal around here...well, as normal as things have everbeen I guess. There could still be a couple good Jerry Springer episodes written in the aftermath of this mess. But anyway, our records remain clean. Deb can get back to being her normal happy self. And me, well, I can get my ass to work to try to pay for this mess...........Have a nice day.

Slackin'

Yeah, I know I'm slacking on the ole journal. I hate to do entries with no pictures, but for the past couple weeks I've just not had any great photo oportunities.

Deb has switched jobs, more money and more hours, so that is a good thing. I've been pretty busy with work, but not nearly as much as a month ago. I have actually had my weekends off for the past two weeks. I've been spending Saturdays here with Monk doing the mowing and working on my projects, then going to Greg's on Sundays working on a Mustang project. I head back to school tomorrow night after a much needed two week break.

I'll not bore anyone any further, but we are still kicking down here....have a good week!

Family member moving on....

 

This is sort of my send off to a tractor. No, it isn't one of mine. It is my dad's D-17 Allis Chalmers. He got it at a time that I really didn't give a crap about tractors, or any kind of farming at all. The farther I could get away from a hay bale, the better. In fact, I really don't have a lot of seat time on this old girl, she came on the scene at about the time I was leaving it.

My son DOES have mucho hours on that baby though. As does my sister...and her kids, the neighbor kids...well, you get the idea.

It is actually WAY more tractor than I'll probably ever need. I remember her as the best tractor dad ever had on the farm. So, now when I'm looking or buying a tractor, they get compared to her. That damn thing has more hydraulic power than the tractor is capable of using. Plenty of room to maneuver on that seat too....mine sure feel cramped by comparison.

Any time I think of fabricating something, the first thing that comes to mind is the "quick hitch" that dad fabricated for her odd ball snap couple system, and all the attachments that could hook to it. That tractor is more personalized than most folks houses.

I only make it home once, sometimes twice a year. In going through my photo's, I was surprised to find that she was in several of them, always in the background. Usually under cover of the barn or machine shed, but ready to roll if needed. The picture I'm using is from Wood Family Reunion I, 2004. cousin Scott,Uncle Don, me, and Kevin, with Rachel's girls playing on and around "Alice".

When mom called a couple years ago, asking what I wanted willed to me, that tractor was really the only thing that came to mind. I wasn't prepared for the question, but that was the only thing that popped in my head.

When it comes down to it, Alice is equipment. I've bought, sold, and traded for my share. Once in a while I'll get rid of somethingonly to want/need it back a few months later. Most of the time I make out like a bandit, or get something I wanted/needed more that what I traded off. I damn sure don't begrudge dad for selling her....or "it". Yeah, that makes it easier. All I've got to say is...Mom, make sure the guy that is buying her, oops, it, reads all our journal entries on this subject. He's buying a piece of Wood history. And he needs to take good care of the old girl.

Ye Ole Welder project.

Here is the latest project. This thing has sit out behind the shed for two years because I thought it was a lost cause. While showing my right hand man Al my junk pile on Saturday, we got to talking about it. Next thing you know, the boom pole is on the 670, and this baby was parked in front of the shed. After a day and a half of fiddling, this is where it's at. I haven't got to try the welding part yet, because the welding leads Greg gave me have TWECO quick connects...I've got to get the welder half of the connectors in the morning. I does seem to work great as a generator so far. Greg also came off of about 20 pounds of welding rod as well, so once I've got those, I'll give it a real test.

Fun stuff I tell you.

A pretty damned good weekend.

Man, this one flew by. Both me and Deb worked Saturday but were off early enough to make Catelynn's (grandbaby)birthday party. Since we both came from work, we didn't have the camera. We got home at 6 and I was able to talk Deb into helping mow this monster estate. While she rode the 140 I weedeated, then jumped on the 670 to help her finish. I got on hour or so with dad before the gang got back from their concert, then I crashed. Today I tried my hand at some plumbing. I installed a faucet at the back of the house, and that went well....took $10 and about an hours work. Wish I'd have done it 5 years ago. Mowed the dog pen and back yard. Got the Walker mower up in the air prepped for motor removal. Then we headed off the "the Sports Page" to watch Bobbies band play. We haven't been going, but it was his wife Lori's birthday party so we thought we'd better show up. I've got his set list memorized by now, but at least I know I'll get at least one Neil Young song out of them. Now I'm just sitting here listening to music and looking at fox news' coverage of the hurricane. Looks like we'll miss this one, but our office in LA (lower Alabama) is gonna get smashed again. I'm sure it will end up affecting me somehow, but not tonight.........

R.I.P. Vicky the dog.

Yet another pet bought the farm last night. We bought Vicky when we first moved out here, from what could probably best be described as a redneck puppy mill. She was a pretty little pup, but through lord only knows how much inbreeding, she wasn't exactly what one would call smart. In fact, I'm pretty sure she was retarded. Nevertheless, she was part of the zoo that is my house. When Christyn graduated and started spending more time at her dad's house, she sort of took Vicky over...She road in the car with Christyn, stayed mostly at her dads, and so on. I was very happy with that situation. She just wasn't one of my favorite dogs. Well, then Christyn started spending more time out here, and her dad didn't like Vicky much either, so she ended up in my back yard again.

Last night Christyn went out to give her some leftovers and found her lying dead in the yard....stiff. I'd seen her at 1pm, and Lany fed them at 4pm, but sometime between then and 10pm last night, Vicky had drawn her last breath. I've got no idea what happened. She didn't look like she has been attacked by either of the bigger dogs. She was fairly close to the electric fence, but not tangled in it. From the looks of things she just dropped dead.

She joined our pet cemetary along side Gina the prarie dog, and Kit-Kat the cat. Christyn is pretty tore up over it obviously and understandably. I'll add a pic later today if I can find one around here.

Lyndsay's Birthday party.

Spent the afternoon in Chucky Cheese hell, but we had a good time. As you can see from the pictures, the girls had a great time. Here are a couple of shots that came out pretty neat that really don't have a thing to do with the birthday, just cool pics...

Update on the fly...

Here is a quickie update. I'm strung out because I'm without a field supervisor in Montgomery so I'm making that trip several times per week. After a trip to Eufaula, AL in the morning I'm headed back there to interview a possible victim to put in that spot. He actually has more office expierience than field, and we need an office manager as well, so he may not get the job....but somebody damn sure needs to get it!

The backhoe project hit a snag last weekend...the bull gear in the rear end was basically eaten alive by the pinion gears. The replacement parts are about $300. I spent all week trying to decide if maybe I should just get a different tractor for the loader and backhoe, or fix this one. I took the hydrostat apart yesterday, and it needed some small parts, so that was about the last nail in the coffin for the Bolens...until I called and found out that those parts were quite cheap. So, I went ahead and ordered them, and I guess I'll start saving up side money to replace the bull gear. I think that by the time this little baby backhoe is done, I could have probably went and bought a used "real" backhoe...but that isn't quite as much fun...just cheaper.

A few random pictures.

Well, I managed to get a couple shots this week in my travels...and quite a lot of miles this past week too. I've had three 450 mile days this week. I've got to get a new lead tech hired for Montgomery!

Ok, I'm sure we've all noticed the trend of putting larger diameter wheels on cars for the past few years. In many cases this can look damn good....and in many cases the wheels are worth more than the car they are mounted on. This fella was so proud of his "Dubs" that he had to put the diameter on the side of the car!

Oh, and in case you missed it on the front, he added it to the rear as well....

And this next fellow was spotted in Hurtsboro, AL...just hanging out with the cows. Noticed those damned white birds are only bothering him...not his cousins.

Lyndsay's first day of school....

Today was Monks first day of school ever.....she didn't get a practice run at pre-shool...her mom won that battle. And, because of it, her mom paid the price today. For the past couple weeks actually. It seems she had more of a problem with Lyndsay going to school than Lyndsay did. If you look at these pictures closely, it is obvious who is actually not wanting to let go. Of course, this ended up getting the kid upset, but it was short lived. The first thing she told me when she got home this afternoon was "I love school!"

"The thing with the holes in it."

For as long as I can remember, Dad always had "the thing with the holes in it." It hung in the garage that we had when I grew up, and has now moved into the new machine shed. I didn't matter what it was, if it wasn't in plain sight, it was in "the thing with the holes in it." Oh, and that is the actual name of this thing. I've never heard it called anything else, and if you look at it, that is just the right name for it. Well, as of today, I've got my own "thing with the holes in it." Greg phased it out of his new shop, and as usual, I was there waiting for the hand me downs.

In other news, I posted a couple of pictures of my latest aquisition, a Walker MT ZTR mower. I has a lot of hours on it, and needs a head for the motor. Other than that, and a seat, it is in very good condition. I traded some labor for it, so as of right now I've not got an actual penny invested in it. This fine project is courtesy of my friend Dave.

The last of the pictures is mainly to show dad my setup for electolitic rust removal. It works great, and I did find out why is was drawing so hard on the charger....the wheel was big enough that is was to close to the rods. With smaller stuff it hovers right around 3 amps, and the charger never even warms up.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to update a bit more this week. The last one was pretty crazy.

Project updates...sandblasting

The project took another small step today. I borrowed Greg's sandblaster and cleaned up some of the parts for the little Bolens backhoe. I did find another crack in the frame, but we've got the technology to fix it right up. I'm also going to put backing plates on the areas that have cracked.

A Dad update.

This is one of those that will probably only appeal to dad....

I went over to Greg's tonight and tried out the Miller 210 he bought for me...oops, I mean us. Damn fine machine. I've been starting work on the little Bolens backhoe I got early last year, and the frame was pretty much ruined on it...it had been repaired and re-broke so many times it would have been impossible to get it square, little alone looking good. So I bought a set of frame rails from a guy on a Bolens Yahoo group that are in much better shape. While cleaning them up I noticed some stress cracks around the axle mounting holes, so what better reason to go try out the new machine. I've got the little shop in back set up pretty nice now, so me and Monk spent Sunday grinding all the places I need to weld up with a die grinder. I ran over there tonight, but while I was there I seen a few places I could reinforce...so I brought his sandblaster home to clean them up completely. Then I plan to go over all the factory welds, and add some material to the weak places that broke on the old frame. I'm going to have to take some pictures along the way this time, because I always forget to do that when I'm deep into the project.

Oh, and if anyone knows where I can get a Kohler Command Pro in the 18-25 horsepower range for a good price let me know!

To Rachel, From Debbie

Deb wanted me to post a picture she took last night. She thought Rachel might like to review it.

Somehow, I got out of going, and Deb went with her oldest daughter. They had a great time, and so did I! LOL

Happy Birthday Lany!

Tomorrow is Alana's 16th Birthday. The "celebration" was today. I was able to get back from Montgomery in time to catch the tail end of the B'day dinning out. They waited on me like one hog waits on another....in other words, they were done when I got there. I'm assuming she had a good one as Deb was off and they just drove around all over town all day I think.

If asked I'll generally tell folks that all the women in my life are trying to kill me, or send me to the loony bin. The wife is jealous because she didn't get to go to all the places that mom took her buddies in KC. Lany is pregnant. I don't seem to agree on either of the boyfriend picks from the other two of Debs older girls. The girls at the office aren't happy unless they can call me in the middle of my classes to answer some inane question that they already know the answer too....you get the idea....

....but then one of them will usually do something to even out the scale just in time to save my being institutionalized. Chrystin never forgets to call on my birthday or fathers day. Celeste gets a pass just because Catelynn is her daughter. Monk with her silliness can make me forget whatever problem is troubling me....

Tonight is was Catelynn's turn to even the score. She nearly lost her mind when I walked into the resteraunt. "Papa, Papa!" She decided to join me for some of the pepper chicken, which would get chewed, spit out, then drink half a cup of tea to cool off her mouth....then try it all over again. Yeah, that was worth the trip.

Oh, and Lany is having a girl...big surprise. Arick is destined to be the only boy in the family I guess. The latest female in the family is pictured above.

Dad said when Deb got pregnant that I'd be raising kids until I'm an old man. It seems like that is going to be the case....the problem is I'm feeling pretty damned old right now.

Still raining....

Man, I'm ready for it to dry out around here! I couldn't mow today and I really needed to, so hopefully I can get it done in the morning. At the very least I'll need to go mow at the church next door...the nice ladies that go there don't care much for the little things that weeds leave on their stockings!

I went out to Gregs today to finish up a side job truck that he's been working on forever...it needs to be done and gone before we can start working on our own list of projects in ernest. And between us, we've got plenty of projects to work on. I've got to finish the JD Gator, I've got a little backhoe to rebuild, and a few things to fabricate for the tractor. He's got 3 (yes, three) Mustangs that all have parts waiting, plus a few things to go on his show Jeep, and a Bronco that isn't finished yet.

Ya'll check out my friends Joy and Bill's new journal here....They are great friends of ours, and everyone knows what a difference it makes to get some feedback.

Few and far between.

I know I'm late with the updates..between the hurricane and my being bummed out about being broke, I just have not been thinking about the journal at all.

We got back home just in time for Hurricane Dennis. It didn't turn out to be much of a hurricane, but it hasn't stopped raining since Saturday. I did go out and do a little tractor work at Gregs, but the building didn't really get finished until today because of weather delays.

Thanks to our our car finance company switching to electonic (instant) deposit, our bank has been under zero for the past week. In some ways, the banks overdraft protection has kept checks from bouncing, but it is also killing us with fees. It really sucks, and I won't bore anyone with the details, but this week (and probably the next few) really has sucked because of this mess.

In other news, I'm back into the school grind, this time in the Machine Tool Technology department. It will end up being very cool, but this first quarter is going to be very slow...all hand tools.

Back at the Ponderosa.

Ok, we made it back in one piece. We all had a great time at mom and dads...I could have actually used a few more days, but I think Deb and Lany were just about ready to head south.

I've posted a couple of pictures taken along the way...it looks like we got one of the better pictures of the reunion group. I also put up a picture of the lights Kevin and Rachel past on to us...you'll notice that she didn't let me put off that project. Oh, and I wish I'd have taken those bulbs...because there weren't any in the fixtures! They are running on two bulbs a piece right now, because that is all I had here. It certainly helped light up the kitchen. The last picture is of my poor stunted corn...tasseled and quit growing at about 4 foot tall, but the little ears it had tasted pretty good with dinner tonight.

I'm heading to Greg's in the morning so I'll have a shed update for dad tomorrow night.

Scientology?

 

Well, this is going to be an odd one for sure......

 

I'm sure everyone has noticed Tom Cruise showing up promoting War of the Worlds on all the regular shows for the past week. I usually like this guys movies, but the weirdness he's been displaying in interviews has made me do a little studying on his "religion".

I've got to say that I'm in slack jawed awe over what folks will follow. And what freaked me out further was the list of celebs that follow this weirded out cult. I must post a disclaimer...this same thing happened when I studied a little on the Mormons last year; and I'm not really what you would call a devout Baptist either, so this is my opinion only...feel free to bitch at me if you wish. It won't get you anywhere...but feel free anyhow.

I started checking this out the same way I did the Mormons...with much the same results. Some of the basic views seem to make great sense. For instance, Mormons are vary family centric. That's cool in my book. Scientologists don't put much stock in the mental health profession...neither do I. Both religions have some familiar faces...not kooked out like the Jonestown gang, or Branch Davidians.

But damn, how in the hell do you even start getting anyone to believe that some freakin' space alien took a bunch of other space aliens, put them on earth, then nuked them? Oh, wait...the best part is that now their (the nuked aliens) spirits are supposed to be in my soul, causing me to look at porn on the net? Wow, well at least the perverts amongst us have someone to blame.

Ah hell...that is enough on that tangent...I had to unload after reading for 5 hours about this stuff. This little read journal seemed to be as good a place to do it as any.

A week already?

Wow, that week went by pretty fast. I've been all over the country trying to gets loose ends tied up before our vacation. I'm damn sure ready for it this year.

I've got a two man team going around to all the WalMarts in our territory installing their HDTV kiosks, and I had to go to each one to get pictures of the installs. I was kind of fun for a change of pace, but I sure put in some miles. I ended up helping them out because I didn't feel like they were getting paid enough for those jobs.

Lyndsay decided she wanted to learn some songs to sing, and I was to teach her. That is the reason Merle is in the CD player. I know nearly all of his songs from when I was a kid, and since he only has a one octave voice, I can sing most of them fairly well. This kid picks up lyrics very fast...maybe it is genetic. I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I can remember some off the wall lyrics from 30 year old songs. Anyway, she has about got Daddy Frank down pretty well now.

I don't have any good pictures from this week at all...unless someone wants to see a non-penetrating roof mout satellite dish on top of a walmart store! I stopped by Greg's this morning and there were actually guys working on getting his tin on! So, by the time I get back, we should have a nice shed to work in.

I packed for vacation last night...at least, all of the packing I ever do....which is one large range bag full of pistols and ammo! I'll let Deb worry about clothes.

 

A fine fathers day for me.

When I left the house this morning, I didn't even know it was fathers day. I had a guy that needed help on a job, so I left before the girls were out of bed. Deb was working, so I planned to head off the Greg's after the job anyway. I got a voice mail from Christyn (who NEVER forgets these things...b'day, fathers day, etc.).

The plan was that Greg was borrowing a bobcat for me to play with...oops, I meant move some dirt around the foundation of the new building. That fell through because the guy loaning us the bobcat was sick, but he had plenty of stuff to do. I didn't leave there until 7....but I came home to a helluva feed. Rib eye steak, smothered in onions (purple, my favorite), shrimp, and cheese.....followed up with some stawberry shortcake. I can barely move now.

I planned to have more shed update pictures, but the contractor is still missing in action...no progress since my last shed update.

Now I'm going to have some coffee, and wait for the replay of 6 Feet Under that we missed last week. It seems the only series that we watch are the HBO ones...Soprano's, Curb You Enthusiasm, Deadwood...I love those shows.

Yep, it was a pretty good day.

Shed update for dad.

Well, it is Greg's turn to play "find the contractor". Nothing has happened with our new playhouse since last week. It is driving him up a wall, but being a contractor myself, I'm well aware of how balancing a few jobs can turn into a mess.

Happy Birthday Dad. From the pictures it looks like you had a pretty good day of it there. Sis did a fine job of explaining why your a great dad, so I'll ditto her entry. I use lessons I learned from you every day. I do usually act like they are my ideas, but I'm well aware of where they came from..."It's just an old Indian trick", right?

Life of Leisure.

Man, my girls really got it rough. I come home this afternoon, the truck was in the drive, but there was no-one to be found inside the house. The above pictures are what I found in the backyard.

 

The free pool.

Our friend Bobby, the photographer that also has a band that we go see sometimes, upgraded to a larger pool. As always, I was standing by for the hand-me-downs. He IM'd us Sunday night at around 7p.m. and by 8 it was in the back of the truck. Level is of utmost importance with these things, but I didn't want to tear up the back yard, so we had to move the swing down some. It still wasn't perfect, but as you can see in the final pictures, it come out pretty darn good. This was one project that I had plenty of help on hand for...the girls wanted that thing up....NOW!

In other news, finals are over, projects are turned in, and I'm officially graduated from the Columbus Tech. welding program.

Also, for dad....Gregs pad is poured, and the red iron is up. The shed should be finished next week sometime, but we still will have to run electric and all that. I did go by and check out the welder he bought for me...oops, I mean for the shop...and it is very nice..A Miller 210. Now I've got MIG capability.

Mondays ride...

I spent the better part of my day around Perry and Warner Robbins. When I left it was completely clear and sunny and was that way all morning. I arrived at a job around 11:30 and while I was wrapping it up, I heard thunder. Me and the old man who lived there looked at one another as if to say, "Here it comes again." I got the first picture as I left his driveway.

While heading off from there I seen a guy jump out of a big John Deere, look at the sky, and head for his pickup. Whatever he had planned, it would have to wait 'til after the storm.

About 20 minutes later is when it all let loose...you can tell from the picture that these are not just minor showers.

I was late to school, and found out when I arrived it was finals night! I'm sorta happy to have this quarter winding down. I graduate from the welding program this quarter, and just in time...I'm ready for something new. The machine shop will be my new hang-out starting next quarter.

Todays ride pictures.

Taking a cue from mom, I thought I would start taking some pictures while on my daily "ride". I do see some pretty cool stuff riding around middle Georgia, cool to me anyway.

Today I was mostly in between Atlanta and Macon, and had a service call in Juliette, GA, the town that "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" was filmed in. Now I've got to be honest, I haven't watched the movie, and don't plan too. But I figured ya'll had, so this may be of interest.

The last picture was just odd to me. I'm driving along a dirt road, not far from Juliette. As I round the corner having just dodged a deer, there are these two huge cooling towers for a nuclear power plant. They actually looked much more impressive than in the picture. I'm using my work camera that doesn't have much zoom, but to me the cool thing was it was just so out of place. I was literally in the middle of nowhere. I drove around an extra 30 minutes trying to get closer for a better picture, but as large as those things are, the Georgia pines pretty much had them hid from all directions except that one spot.

Oh, and one last thing, I took some of those from inside my "steed", like mom does. So you may see the reflection off the windshield....not horse ears like in moms.

Saturday Six

1. Who is the last performer you saw live in concert? Tracy Lawrence. What is the last film you saw at a theater? The Patriot. Which was more worth the money you paid? Both were very good, probably a tie. As you can tell, we don't go to the theater very often!

2. What do you do more of in a typical day:  work, sleep, eat, exercise. watch TV, surf the web? Right now, work wins hands down...usually work and sleep would be about the same.

3. Your office brings in a new drink machine and it's your job to fill the eight selection slots.  What drinks (non-alcholic, of course) do you select? The first three slots would be full of Diet Dr. Pepper, because I can never find it in a machine around here. Then, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Coke, Diet Coke, and the last slot I'd ask around to see what else is popular.

4. Take the quiz:  What is your expression number?  9 Do you agree with the description it gives you? I guess it is sorta close. What do you disagree with most? "If you are not able to help people, you tend to shelf your talents."

An idealist and humanitarian, you strive to make the world a better place.
You do your best when you follow your feelings and sense of compassion.
Deep down, you dream of being loved by many.

You are capable of much human understanding and have a lot to give to others.
While you are very ambitious, you never lose site of perspective.
You have an abundance of creative talents... you just need to tap into them.

Although you are a giving person, you can become selfish if you are ignored.
If you are not able to help people, you tend to shelf your talents.
Without others, you become aloof and start to lack sensitivity.

5. Counting all light fixtures and lamps in yourhome, how many bulbs do you have in place, and how many of them are on right now? 22, only one is on.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #55 from Laura: What is your favorite movie line ever and why? Wow, this is a hard one, I've got so many I spout off all the time. The first that comes to mind for some reason is from Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, one of my favorite movies of all time. Yes, it is a long one, and I almost know it word for word...I cheated here just to make sure I got it right. "I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us."

Quickie entry..

Well, mom is wondering if they are going to get any rain, and I'm rained out! It has rained everyday since Sunday, and it is supposed to continue. My tomatoes are loving it, but I'm tired of working in it. Also, I worry about the sweet corn because it is the one thing I like to eat, but it doesn't like to much rain. We shall see....

I've only got 4 jobs tommorow, so I think I'll head out early and get them knocked out...that is as long as the PM people are home in the morning. Usually on Saturdays folks are happy for you to show up early so they can get on with their weekend.

It is getting close to vacation time for us...time to head north for a week or so. At the rate I've been going, just having a few days off will be nice. My bro-in-law has got some "loot" waiting for me up there, and I can finally shoot a bit without all the planning that is involved to shoot here at home....where to go, when to go, etc. At dads, you just head off over the hill and let some lead fly. I've not figured out how I'm financing all the diesel fuel needed to get there, but I've been told by the boss not to worry about it, so I won't. All I can say is I'm glad I'm not the one trying to balance our checkbook when I'm pretty sure I'm making less than we are spending. I'll be happy to get back to work in my own area where I can get my side-jobs going again. I've got voice mails stacking up that all think they are priorities, but haven't been around to tend to them.

All in all, things are normal as can be.....

Another update from the southern front...

What a weekend! They've really been running me ragged in the Macon area, and I needed a break. Friday after work, me and Deb met in Columbus to go to a friends house who is headed to Texas for Air National Guard training. We stayed until midnight, and after an hours drive home I found the largest stack of jobs yet waiting for me on the fax machine....oh, and some idiot had routed me out of my assigned management area. I was too late to get that fixed, so after 4 hours sleep, I headed off to try and get all of the jobs done. Here are the numbers...350 miles total, 8 jobs completed, 4 area codes covered, and done by 6 pm. I was quite proud, and wore slap out. I call home from Macon to see how Debs day went and find out we've got a dinner date with some friends that was made the week before...oh hell. Haul ass home, jump in the shower, and off we go again. I thought I could handle it, but at around midnight it was obvious that I couldn't. I was falling asleep on the gang, and I'm the one that is supposed to be throwing one-liners and smart assed comments. Arrive home, and joy of joys, no work waiting for my Sunday at all! I got up late Sunday morning, called the office and found that I had no jobs scheduled for today either. Now that was a relief, and all the more reason for us to head out again. After working 7 days a week for the past month, it was time for an adventure. So, Sunday afternoon, the girls safely in Florida with their big sister, me and Deb packed up and headed to Atlanta....Catching up with some more friends up there who showed us a great time and hospitality. We had a very enjoyable time.
I've started figuring out lately that it is probably a better thing to go see friends, and have a good time rather than think of reasons not too. I'm the king of begging out of that kind of thing, but every time we head off I have as good a time as anyone. No, the yard did not get mowed, and it was raining when we got home this afternoon so it won't happen anytime soon either. We don't have money to be doing anything extravagant, but because of good friends it really doesn't cost much. To hell with it, it was a fun weekend, so I'm not going to try and justify it!

The jobs for tomorrow are plentiful, but at least they are in the right area. Deb is napping and the girls made it back sun burnt but happy. I'm still broke as hell. I'll keep on keepin' on...........

A mom update.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but there hasn't been a lot to talk about. I've been working pretty much all the time, and that isn't very exciting to write about. We did manage to make our way to the Silver Dollar Raceway on Saturday night to watch a friend of ours race. Things didn't work out to well for him though...lost in the first round, bought back in, then lost again in the second. Thus is bracket racing.

We went to watch our friend Bobby play again Sunday night. It seems he is going to have a pretty steady monthly gig at the sports bar he's been playing at. As I said before, it is not my kind of music, but "We've got to support the band, man!" Besides, Deb likes the music, and Lord knows she tags along on a lot of my dumb stuff that she could care less about.

I missed school tonight because I got home to late to make it worth while. I'm only three tasks shy of being done though, so it really isn't that big a deal.

Should anything exciting happen, I'll check back in later in the week.

Tractor envy.

I bought my little John Deere and had to pull it around behind a Ford Ranger that just wasn't really enough truck to get the job done. So, I get a truck so big, that now the John Deere looks like a garden tractor behind it. Uncle Phil buys a 190xt Allis, which is a monster. It just so happens I've been passing one for sale for the past month between Ft. Valley and Macon. Now, I know this is a disjointed paragraph, but the question is, is one acre enough room to turn around and Allis 190?

Next quarter, and playing with the camera.

This is my last quarter in welding class...after about a year and a half, I'll now have a diploma in "Welding and Metal Joining Technologies", but, I've still got some G.I. Bill money left to collect.....so last night I signed up for Machine Tool class..in other words, machinist. I won't have enough G.I. Bill to get me to the end, but HOPE scholarship will pay the tuition all the way through, so what the heck. It is definitely something that is worth knowing how to do, especially with Pratt & Whittney down the road, and the new Heckler & Koch plant being built in Columbus. The instructor said right up front, "If you've got a part that needs to be made, we'll do it right here". Now he is speaking my language!

In other news, I'm always taking pictures to post on the various firearm websites that I frequent, so I thought it was about time I took out the book for my camera and started learning the little tricks that nobody ever uses. These pictures I'm posting are guns ya'll have already seen, but taken in full manual mode, manual focus, aperture priority. Lighting is still kicking my ass, so I did these outside...natural light is much easier to work with. I did touch these up a little with Photoshop, just to get rid of specs on my background. Anyone that can offer some photography criticism, let 'er rip. I'm open to suggestions.

 

Happy Birthday to Me!

You can see from the cake how old I am. Had a pretty good Birthday...took the afternoon off, played with Monk and Catelynn, mowed the yard, surfed the net, and caught the best damn rock show I've ever seen on VH1...100 best Hard Rock bands. Talked to all the kids...yeah, it was a fine day. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go to bed...I've got an hour of so of Birthday left you know.....

Lib or not?

I seen this on my homegirl Celeste's Journal and had to try it. It is pretty close considering there aren't that many questions to it.

Your Political Profile

Overall: 80% Conservative, 20% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

 How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

My helper.

As you can see, I had my helper with me Saturday. We got quite a bit accomplished, and the old shed is now empty except for the lawn equipment which is staying in there. I wasn't going to put this table in the new shed, but Monk was sure we needed a "dinner table" to eat on from time to time...then she decided we needed to try it out. So we had some ham and cheese sandwiches to make sure it would work. It did. I also have a pic here of our massive television that so far has only had cartoons played on it. That damn thing is ancient, but keeps on working.

Happy Mothers Day.

This is not something that I claim to be good at, so bear with me…

 

To my mom,

 

   Like everything else in life, folks tend to take certain things for granted, at least I do. For instance, I take if for granted that when visiting my parents, you will be woke up in the morning by my mom singing and playing the guitar, followed by the smell of something wonderful cooking for breakfast. I never thought to warn my wife about that the first time she slept there, and woke up to her looking at me as if to say, “What the hell is this all about?” While the highest rated would be cinnamon rolls, the rice and raisins rank as high on my list. It is a given that if it is past 9 p.m., and your looking for my mom, you’d better check the bedroom, because she is asleep….4:30 a.m. to get those dinner rolls rising comes awfully early you know. You would be hard pressed to get hungry at moms house.

   We did not have a lot of money when I was a kid. In fact, I think there were times when we didn’t have any at all. The thing is, at the time I really didn’t realize just how tight things were. My sister and I weren’t burdened with having to hear about any of these problems. This is probably one of the more important lessons I learned from both my parents…let kids worry about kid stuff, and not involve them in adult business. If they ever argued, it happened when we weren’t there. These days, mom doesn’t worry about much. She’ll be the first to tell you that all is in God’s hands, and she’ll trust in Him that all will work out.

   In some ways, my mom ruined me. When I was young, you didn’t take the “last one” of anything…that was dads. It wasn’t a big deal really, that’s just how it was. Now days, if one of my gang beat me to “the last one” (usually a desert that I really didn’t need anyway), instinctively I look at Deb, like, “How did you let that happen?” Doesn’t she know it is her job to protect the “last one” from the kids? I’m sure she probably thinks I’m quite insane.

   I’ve got nothing but love for my mom. I haven’t ever told her how much I appreciate all that she is done for me, so this is as good a time as ever…Thanks Mom.

Looks like I'm not working this weekend.

Well, it looks like I've got the weekend off. I dropped the hint yesterday that I was wondering when I was getting a day off. No jobs were posted for me by late last night, so I thought I had it made...then the phone rings this morning and it's a fax screaming in my ear...can't be good news. Yep, it's a job...wait, there is a note at the bottom..."James, please take care of this Monday, cust's local's not working. Thanks, Craig." We alrighty then...I'm in business.

Monk and I got power rigged up to the shed last night, though if an insurance man seen the way it is hooked up, he would probably croak. I need to get the proper breaker for the house panel, and we'll be set. I also got the cable hooked up so Monk was able to watch cartoon network with my grandaughter. a very dirty doll.

My corn and watermelons have sprouted, and the tomato plants look very healthy. We didn't get any rain this week, so I'd better water today.

Looks to be a great day to be alive.

1. What is your single biggest frustration right this minute?

Money, always.

2. What classic television show would you most like to see made into a modern-day movie?  I've yet to see one remade that didn't suck, so I wish they would leave well enough alone. What classic movie do you think you'd like to see remade? See above answer.

3. How many people in your family are war veterans?  Myself and Uncle Russell, who has since past on. Of those, how many have you actually talked to about their experiences in war? Uncle Russell said enough to me that I could tell he'd rather not get into it. Most folks don't ask me about it, unless it is technical stuff about certain weapons. I've got no problem talking about it, though do worry sometimes about coming off a bit "callous" about killing. But I will say this, if you ever come across someone who goes on and on about the "acts of war", he has probably never been in it.

4. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #51 from COURTENAYMPHELAN:  Who do you think is the best author in J-land for poetry?  My mom, mosie1944. How about for prose? See above answer.

5. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #52 from COURTENAYMPHELAN: If you haven't put your picture in your journal, would you consider doing so?  If you have, what made you do so? Hell, when your as good looking as me, why wouldn't you want to put a picture up? I just figure folks get a better "feel" for your journal if they know what you look like...thats how I am anyway.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #53 from Nyuknyukpik2:  What is your favorite black and white movie and why? Schindlers List, it is one of those that you don't even really notice that it is black and white, because the movie is so good.

Another one in the safe.

 

Well, I finally was able to catch my transfer guy in his store and picked up this little gem, a Hecker and Koch USP45 Compact. I have yet to shoot it, but can't hardly wait. Now my USP9 has a playmate. One of these days I'm going to get this camera figured out. This picture was taken with a home-made light tent (white sheet), using some big halogen outdoor lights to light it up. I took several, but still had to adjust the color for some reason. I think the halogen bulbs must through a hint of tint into the picture.

More welding pics, plus some others.

Well, I've got some more welding pictures in this album for Dad, but I also threw a few in there that might interest others. The first one is the killer, to bad it isn't focused very well. Chrystin did the self portrait of her and Monk...just two of the reasons I'm getting ulcers. There are far to many beautiful women in this family. And the worst part is, I'm past the point of having much control over any of them besides Monkey. Amber lives up north, so all I can do is worry about her. Celeste is moved out and in her own house. Chrystin at 19 has a job, and splits her time between here and her dads house...and her boyfriends. And Lany, well, I'm afraid I've lost that battle. Deb lets me act like I've got some control over her, though she is running the show. The baby in the second picture is Catelyn, Celestes baby. I guess it isn't a bad thing to be surrounded by beautiful girls.

Whistle while your work.....

This is more to keep folks from thinking I've given up on this than anything else. I started working Macon area last week, and it seems that the lady that runs the Macon office thinks I'm going to do 7 day work weeks. So far, she's winning. BUT...I am sort of "taking one for the team" because the Macon guys are swamped. I figure I owe the company a couple weekends, because the proof is farther down the page that I don't always bust my butt for them every day! It sort of sucks working over there because I don't know the area at all, and it is at least an hour and a half drive just to get to the first job. All I'm doing is service work and backing up their lead tech when he gets strung out, so it isn't hard work at all. Time is what really starts getting to me. With school two nights a week, and not getting home from Macon until 7 each night, I've not had a lot of time to do anything else....that, and since I'm on salary, I'm not getting any extra bucks for this crap.

I am still loving my XM radio...one of the best toys I've bought this year. My favorite talk show is Opie and Anthony on XM202. It starts at 7 am eastern, and I like it so much I've been hitting the road earlier just so I can catch the whole thing! They are both New Yorkers, but are more conservative leaning than lib. And, it is a comedy type show anyway. And most of the time they really deliver...it just blows away any other morning show I've ever heard. Even better than Johnny Dare and Murphy in Kansas City (I hear it's just Johnny Dare now...what happed to Murphy?) and WAY better than the syndicated John Boy and Billy, or Howard "dumb shit" Stern. I've laughed so hard at times I about had to pull over. It is a bit on the rough side, because since it is on XM they don't have to go by FCC guidelines.

I'm bitching about working weekends, but Deb has been doing it every since she started. As I write this, she still hasn't made it home for the night. We have still found the time to socialize a little bit. Went to friends for BBQ Friday night, and will probably go watch another friends band tonight if Chrystin is available to watch Monk (Lyndsay). Most of the music is a little old for my liking, but he purposely does some Neil Young in the set to keep my attention.

Oh, my tomatoes made it through the frost scare, as well as two big storms, and look to be healthy so far. Maybe this will be the year I get a good garden again.

I've got another HK pistol waiting to be picked up at the pawn shop down the street. I traded a Leupold scope for it from a guy on the net, and Dan the pawn shop broker was good enough to do the ATF transfer for me. Now I've just got to catch him at the store to pick it up. It has been there since last Thursday and I've yet to make it there before closing. It isn't going anywhere, but it's still driving me nuts. I'll post some pictures when I get it. It will be my second HK, a USP 45 compact, but I'm sure not the last. Heckler & Koch make some very nice weapons, but they don't come cheap.

All right, I'm typed out for now, and just got the word that Chrystin is available, so I gotta jump in the shower.

Picture for dad from welding class.

This will probably not interest anyone but dad.

After two weeks of running stringer beads on the TIG, I decided to start working on some tasks tonight. I'm starting to get the hang of the machine, but it IS like the Cadilac of TIG machines. This one wasn't the best of the night, but the best one is now in the locker...it passed. This one didn't pass because of the cold start on the right where it balled up a little bit. It is really nice to be able to adjust the heat on the fly.

 See, I told you this wouldn't interest anyone but dad!

A Busy Sunday.

I was able to get Deb and Lydsay out at the crack of dawn (to them.....11 a.m.) and we finally got the garden planted. It was cool and windy, and now there is a frost warning out for tonight. I wonder if the tomato plants will make it?

Celeste came over this afternoon with the baby, so her and Lyndsay wanted to stay in the back yard....so since I needed to stay out there anyway, I went ahead and dug the trench for my electrical wiring for the shed. I talked Deb into helping me fish it up into the house panel, her pulling from inside the house, and me pushing it up from the crawl space. All I need now is a big breaker for the house panel, and a sub-panel for the shed and I'll have electricity. I went ahead and ran some phone line and cable while I was at it...might as well have all the comforts of home out there. Oh, and the TV was a request from Lyndsay.

My current project.

Here is what has been keeping me busy for the last week. There were several things I needed to do before I could start moving my "stuff" into the new shed. The first thing was to wire it up for electricity. I've done all the wiring, though haven't dug the trench needed to get the power out there yet. Me and Lyndsay built the bench, then put a piece of pegboard up in front of it. I used simple wallboard for the rest of the walls where needed. Basically it is just there so I can hang pictures and stuff up. Today we started moving things from the old shed to the new one.

Taking a stab at the 6.

1. If you could ask any question of the head honcho of AOL about the recent journal concerns, what would your question be?
I wouldn't have much to say, because I didn't realize there were any concerns!
2. How many journals do you visit regularly in an average week...or...if you use a blog aggregator service like "Bloglines," how many journals do you have in your subscription lists?
Only six or so.
3. Back in July, I asked which of the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, envy, gluttony, anger, greed, sloth, and lust,) you were most guilty of. Now, it's time to pat yourselves on the back and figure out which one you are the least guilty of.
Glad I missed the one where he wanted to know "most guilty". For this one, I'm going with "sloth".
4. Recent reports indicate that some pharmacists are refusing to sell their customers the controversial "morning-after pill" when the customer prevents their prescription. Should pharmacists be allowed to refuse to sell a medication for which a customer presents a valid prescription based on their own religious beliefs?
Well, I'm not so right wing about this.I think the guy might need to look into another line of work if he refuses to fill a prescription based on religion. I guess he'll probably not be filling viagra or cialis prescriptions either, just to "nip the problem in the bud", right?
5. Take this personality test: What type of personality does it say you are? ENTJ Then go back to this page, click the link that matches your results. Read the description: how accurate do you think it is about you? I believe is it very accurate. Damn shrinks!

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #50 from SpringsNymph: You've received an unexpected windfall of $50,000. What home improvement would you spend it on? I would probably go ahead and buy this place from the church, put a roof and new siding on it, and let Deb decide what needs to be done inside.

Got the shed in place...fun stuff!

What a fun morning! I got up early, and tried using the Dually to yank this thing up the hill...no dice. Didn't have the traction to make it happen. Then I got Deb up, hooked the tractor to the front of the truck...still not gonna happen. At this point I'm starting to get a little bummed out. So....I used my old buddy Rooster's trick, which I'm sure he got from the Ancient Egyptians directly. Jack that baby up and put some poles under it to lessen the friction. The shed had sunk in a couple inches overnight, and this helped get things moving. I only had to do this trick a couple times, because once I got up the hill, the little tractor really got some traction and carried the front wheels all the way up! The tires did a number on my yard, but hey, the shed is in place. Deb was snapping pictures when she wasn't spotting for me. We had to thread the thing through my fence poles, and some trees. And, you can tell by the blue shirt, all this was on company time...how could I think of switching jobs?

The new shed has arrived.

It took a month to get built, but my new storage shed finally arrived this morning. As you can see, he has my neighbors loaded on there as well. These are built by menonites in south Georgia, and are really well built. Here it is coming into the drive:

And here is a better view showing the front of mine:

Now the good part. My 10 foot gate is to narrow to get the shed through. So I tell the guy to drop it next to the fence line and I'll pull it where I want it with the tractor. "How much does it weigh?" I ask the driver. "3500 pounds" he says and I start thinking I may need a bigger tractor. Sure enough, my little baby Deere won't budge the damn thing. It did probably look cool with the front end pointing to the sky like a minature Super Stock Puller. Debbie had already left with the big truck, so at the moment it sits next to the fence in the backyard, waiting for me to come up with some way to get it to it's final spot. I hope to hell the truck can get enough traction to drag it up into the back yard!

Broken DSL! The horror....

Well, I didn't realize how long it had been since I made an entry here. The past week has been pretty hectic with school starting back up and the Macon locals rolling out. Deb has been working until at least seven, usually nine every night. So Friday evening we are sitting at our computers, listening to Opie and Anthony (Funny stuff, let me tell you) when everything just comes to a halt. My surfing, Deb's card playing, and the webcast audio of my new favorite talk show. I figure it is a problem with our local phone company, and it is 11 at night, so what the hell....call it a night, they'll fix it in the morning.

So Saturday arrives....there was a big drag race in Reynolds, so I only had time to check it right quick. Still out. No biggie. Spent the day checking out the car show, swap meet, and some good all Ford drag racing....because after all...who wants to look at a damn Chevy anyway? Oh, yeah...uncle Don..but that is about it. And I figure the only reason he does is either a head injury none of us know about, or because it makes for some good arguments when he talks to folks with enough common sense to buy Fords. Anyway, I didn't get home until 6p.m. and there was still no internet! This is getting serious.

We have a true privately owned phone company in this little town, and I figured my chances would be pretty slim of getting any tech support on a Saturday night...wrong I was. Evidently whomever contracts the DSL has that covered. After having me change a bunch of settings that I knew wouldn't fix the problem, the tech support guy concedes that my modem is dead. Being hard headed, I didn't even hook up a phone line to dial on with AOL until last night, and that was to check out a tractor for dad. Man, I remember when getting on at 56k seemed pretty doggone fast.

So here I sit. Monday morning, waiting on Bruce, the phone guy, to drop me off a modem. The cool part is that even though I haven't talked to them yet, I know I'll be his first stop when he hits the rode this morning. The phone company folks all know I actually use this thing for work sometimes, and I'm sure our total logged on hours are way beyond anyone else in town. They tend to take care of us when a problem arises. To me, having a locally owned phone company is pretty cool...and this is only the second time in the year that we've had DSL that is has had a problem.

And besides, things could be worse...for the first two years we lived out here, a 28.8 connection was as fast as it got.

Back to shool...and more gun porn.

Alrighty, I'm officially back to school. It was good to catch up with the welding shop guys after spending two quarters "across the street" doing core classes. I was planning to take a day class this quarter, but because of Macon local channels coming online, it looks like I'll be taking the extra class at night. That means four nights a week at school. That is going to get old fast.

And I've taken another picture of the latest mistress for another web site, and thought I would share here as well. I just got the grips in the mail today, and had to do a couple glamour shots for the guys at 10mmtalk.com.

And here are a couple of my running buddy riding around with her "hubsband" (thats how she says it) and my "grandaughter".

You say it isn't raining today?

Wow, the sun! I had forgotten what that looked like. I can say for sure that the garden is getting put off for another week, unless I decide to plant rice, because my plot is a mudhole at the moment. It rained last weekend, then I had a couple nice days while in Chattanooga, then it started raining again Wednesday night and didn't really quit until late last night. Today it is very windy, but hopefully that will dry the yard enough for me to mow it.

Deb told me last night, "You need to update your journal, sir." Well, with that sort of formalities I figure I better do as I'm told. So, I sent her off to work, and Lyndsay is still sleeping (at 11:49! She takes after her mother), this is as good a time as any to type a bit.

I left Chattanooga Thursday morning and was able to hit a couple new gun stores on my path back home. Found a really nice one in Fayetteville, only about an hour from here, that is Class III....full auto baby! That is good to know so when I do all the forms to buy a silencer, he can handle the transfer. Most Class III dealers have rental machine guns you can try out, but this one doesn't yet.

Friday I went down to Albany for a meeting/class concerning the local roll-out for Macon. It looks like I'm trading my normal drive to Montgomery for a lot more rides to Macon. This really isn't such a bad deal because the house isn't really that far from the western edge of Macon's territory. There will be a total of four field supervisors covering an area half the size of the one I normal patrol by myself. I can't imagine this mission is going to be that tough.

School starts back up on Monday, and this quarter I'm back over in the welding shop! I'm pretty damn happy about that, because all the core classes were starting to bum me out. I'll be TIG welding and they've recently gotten all new TIG machines, so I'm pretty excited to get to work.

After a long battle, I think Best Buy has finally given up on me. The money they were offering me wasn't much more than I make now, and the salary would have basically had me topped out for that position, so I told them to keep it. They did call back everynight while I was up north bargaining with me, but in the end I think it is best to stay where I am. I'm at the base salary for this job, with lots of room to go up.

Well, I think I'm going to get the kid up, and go do some yard work.

Update from the road....

What a dreary day in Ringold, Georgia. It has been getting cooler as the day wears on, but tomorrow is supposed to be much nicer. Since they've got me checked into a cheapo Super-8, I don't have wireless lan unless I basically sit IN the windowsill and steal bandwidth from some nearby business that isn't smart enough to secure their network. The signal is on the low side, but pretty fast.

I think I'll go check out the local gun shop, and maybe run out to the Cattoosa training area where I used to train National Guard troops 10 years ago. Surely there has got to be something to get into around here! Motel life is boring.

Fertilized....LET IT RAIN!

Man, another winner of a day here. 84 degrees and sunny. I went this morning to pre-wire a house for a local country DJ. I usually jump when he calls because he pays well, talks good about me on the radio, and is genuinely a nice guy. I finished with him early enough to get back and spread some fertilizer on my garden plot and all of the front yard...and just in time for some rain. My timing is hardly ever that good, but so far things are looking good. Because I'll be in Chattanooga all week I'm going to be a week behind in planting, but this will still be the earliest I've ever had the garden planted. I just hope the tomatoes grow this year.

Oh, and Best Buy has been leaving me a lot of messages. Those guys must really want me over there. I guess an application and interview can't hurt anything.

 

Busy, busy, busy.

I wish AOL had a "tired" listing for the mood setting. What the hell is "Loopy" anyway?

I swear someone at work must be reading this and decided to keep me to busy to worry about another job. I've been in Montgomery every day this week training a Lead Technician...which is great, because now I won't be going to Montgomery all the time. I found out today (via AIM!) that I'm heading to Albany, GA in the morning for a day of train-the-trainer...cool beans, because I don't live that far from there and it is something new. Then he says, once your certified from that, I'm sending you to Chattanooga to train all next week. Ah well, I like Chattanooga fine and have even lived there for a while back in the Army days. So far though, their plan is working....I haven't had even a chance to go to Best Buy and talk to the general manager.

On a plus note, I finally sealed the deal on a Colt Delta Gold Cup and have it secured in the Southern Command Headquarters. I'll get some pics posted....when I get some time!

 

OK, I couldn't stand it...here she is, in all her 10mm glory...

By the way, the watch is part of my poor attempt at still-life composition.

Job change in my future???

So I'm at Best Buy today, talking with one of the managers about taking care of a commercial job that I'm doing on the side for them. Basically, they sold $10k in televisions to a local furniture store, then couldn't find anyone to do the install. So I'm just there getting all the details straight when the general manager of the store walks up, introduces himself, and then begins a pretty good sales pitch to get me to come to work for them.

The details are far from set, but here is what he's promised so far....More money than I make now, 401k with a better match than I have now, stock options which I don't have now, and a new van. I've already got a new van with my current company, but everything else sounds pretty good. I've been with this outfit every since I got out of the Army, and have made good money with them. I've got one of the better supervisors in the company. They have always taken pretty good care of me, though recently I've seen a couple people I cared about get cut loose for various B.S. reasons. If anyone has any good reasons why I should/shouldn't take this job, let me know.

Quote for the day.

"Most people in this world will never need a gun, however the ones
that do will need it in the worst way possible, and usually never live
to tell about it"
                    Jeff Cooper

Nasty outside, but still a good day

Man, what a yucky weather day here. Rainy and cold, but winter's time is running short. Sure wish I would have gotten the fertilizer out on the garden dirt and yard before the rain

I just finished the last of my tests for SCT100 (intro to MS Office) so that one is done! Ended up with an 88%, so not to bad. I've got finals in English Monday, and then a couple of weeks off until spring quarter starts.

Me and Dad were talking about impact tools last weekend, specifically air ratchets....how that was the next thing on my list. I told my friend Greg, who works at a driveline shop, to check the "repo" stuff on the tool trucks (Snap On, Matco, etc.) hoping to find a deal on a good used one. Well, when it is nasty outside, I tend to hang out at the shop and talk racing with the guys, and basically get paid to B.S. When I drove up the Matco truck was there and Greg says, "Let’s go check it out." He never even asked about repo stuff...went straight back to the new stuff, asked the price of a new 3/8 air ratchet, say's "Put it on my account Lee", and puts the damn thing in my hand! Damned if I know what I've done for him lately or if there is something coming up that'll require my expertise, but I'm definitely in the hole to him at the moment. Here is a picture of it....

That dude never fails to surprise me like that. I also got a few parts for my 10/22 rifle project, but it isn't done so no pictures of it yet.